Our Trustees
The Trustees of The Royal Foundation each undertake a balance of responsibilities divided between strategic direction, governance, oversight and fundraising. The Trustees meet at least quarterly on a formal basis and they are accountable in law for the work of the Foundation.
The Rt Hon Lord Hague of Richmond, William Hague
ChairmanThe Rt Hon Lord Hague of Richmond, William Hague
The Rt Hon Lord Hague of Richmond, William Hague, served for 26 years in the British House of Commons until he stood down in 2015. In that time, he served in many senior roles, including Leader of the House of Commons, but is best known as the Leader of the Conservative party, 1997-2001, and First Secretary of State and Foreign Secretary, 2010-2014. He now pursues a wide range of business and charitable activities. He is also a well-known writer, as a weekly columnist of the Times and a best-selling author of historical biographies.Alice Webb
Alice Webb
Alice Webb is Chief Executive Officer and Co-President of Universal Music Group’s Mercury Studios. Mercury Studios is a multi-faceted content studio developing, producing, distributing and investing in premium original programming – with music at its heart - across a range of media including film, television, podcasting, publishing and live-streamed performance. Alice joined Mercury Studios in May 2020 from the BBC where she spent 15 years working across a number of departments. Between 2011 and 2019, Alice was Chief Operating Officer and then Director of BBC North. She was instrumental in the biggest BBC move outside of London when key BBC departments including BBC Sport, BBC Children's, Radio 5 live and BBC Education moved to Salford. Around 35,000 hours of output a year across TV, radio and the red button are now made in the north, with 3,000 staff based at MediaCityUK. As Director of BBC Children’s & Education between 2015 and 2020 Alice went on to lead all the BBC’s output and activity for Under 16’s – including CBeebies and CBBC, the most watched and loved children’s channels in the UK. Alice led the BBC’s Education department too – with a particular focus on early years development. More recently, Alice led the launch of the BBC’s hugely successful Bitesize Daily which is supporting millions of children across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. Alice is also a Trustee of The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Alice lives in the north-west with her family.Claire Wills
Claire Wills
Claire Wills is a senior partner at international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and managing partner of its London office. She joined Freshfields in 1992, becoming a partner in May 2001. Claire is also a member of the Arnold Foundation Board, established by Rugby School in 2003.Hannah Cockburn-Logie
OBE, MVOHannah Cockburn-Logie
Hannah Cockburn-Logie is a senior British diplomat with twenty years of experience in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She has spent much of her career representing the UK overseas with postings to Slovenia, India and most recently Brussels, where she was the Counsellor for political and communications at UKMis (UK Mission to the EU). In India, she was Head of Political and Bilateral Affairs, based at the British High Commission in New Delhi. Hannah was awarded an OBE in 2017 for services to the UK-India relationship and was awarded an MVO in 2008.Jean-Christophe Gray
CBEJean-Christophe Gray
Jean-Christophe Gray CBE is Private Secretary to His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge. He previously worked at HM Treasury since 2002 in a variety of roles, including: Director, Public Services (2016-2020); Press Secretary to two Chancellors of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling and George Osborne (2009-11); and Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown (2004-06). He was the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman in No10 Downing Street 2012-2015, and has most recently (2020-2021) been seconded to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). Prior to joining the Civil Service, he worked for Procter & Gamble and was briefly a parliamentary assistant to then MP for Wimbledon. He read history at the University of Oxford, and has a MSc in European Politics & Policy from the London School of Economics.Lady Pinsent
Lady Pinsent
Demetra Pinsent is the CEO of British beauty brand Charlotte Tilbury, a Non-Executive Director of Belmond Ltd and a Trustee of The Royal Foundation. Prior to this, she was a Partner at McKinsey & Company where she co-led the European Luxury Goods Practice and advised leading global retailers and consumer businesses. She has also served as an Advisory Board Member for Walpole, the British luxury goods association and Aston Martin.Sir Ron Kalifa
OBESir Ron Kalifa
Ron Kalifa is Chairman of Network International; a FTSE company and Chairman of FutureLearn. He is a Non-Executive Director of the Court of Directors to the Bank of England, the England & Wales Cricket Board and a member of the Council of Imperial College, London. Ron was invited to lead an independent Fintech Strategic Review for the UK at the request of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Report was published in February 2021. Additionally, Ron is a member of the Build Back Better Business Council which is co-chaired by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor and a member of the Government’s Digital Economy Council. Ron is also an Operating Partner for Advent International. Previously, Ron led Worldpay for over 10 years as CEO including its divestment into private equity ownership in 2010. He served as Vice Chairman thereafter, remaining as an Executive director until February 2020.Simon Patterson
Vice ChairmanSimon Patterson
Simon Patterson is a Managing Director of Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing. He is currently a board member of Dell Technologies, Cegid and FlixBus, and previously served on the boards of Intelsat, Skype, MultiPlan and Gerson Lehrman Group. He is also a Trustee of the Natural History Museum in London and a Non-Executive Director of Tesco plc.Zeinab Badawi
Zeinab Badawi
Zeinab Badawi was born in Sudan – her family moved to London when she was two years old. She studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University and for an MA in history (awarded with a distinction) at SOAS, London University. Zeinab has worked extensively in the British media for four decades and is now best known for her work in the BBC’s international division at BBC World News TV and BBC World Service Radio on programmes such as 'Hard Talk', and 'Global Questions’ as well as a major 20-part tv series on the history of Africa which she produced and presented through her own production company for BBC World News. She also produces and presents films on opera. Zeinab is President of SOAS London University, a member of the advisory board of the think tank Afro-Barometer, and of MINDS: the Mandela Institute for Development Studies; a trustee of Historic Royal Palaces, BBC Media Action (the charitable arm of the BBC), the Royal Opera House, the Hampstead Theatre in London and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. She is also a council member of the Arts Humanities and Research Council of UKRI; Zeinab was Chair of the Royal African Society (Patron: HRH the Duke of Cambridge); she has served on the board of the British Council, the National Portrait Gallery, the Institute of Historical Research, the Overseas Development Institute, and has been Chair of Article 19. Zeinab has received many awards including honorary doctorates from SOAS, the University of the Arts London, and York University and received the President’s Medal of the British Academy for her services to broadcasting and education and the United Nations Association-UK Sir Brian Urquhart award for distinguished service to the UN. She is also an honorary fellow of St Hilda’s, College Oxford University. Zeinab has four children.Our leadership team
Amanda Berry OBE
Chief Executive OfficerAmanda Berry OBE
Amanda joined The Royal Foundation in June 2022 from BAFTA where she has served as the arts charity’s Chief Executive for 23 years.
Amanda was instrumental in the major changes BAFTA has undergone: successfully positioning the organisation as the pre-eminent global charitable body celebrating the very best work in film, games and television; supporting the growth of creative talent; and discovering, inspiring and nurturing new talent. Among the many achievements of her tenure at BAFTA, Amanda oversaw a huge expansion in the organisation’s charitable work; was at the heart of the successful delivery of one of BAFTA’s most ambitious undertakings to date, the redevelopment of its HQ at 195 Piccadilly; and re-positioned its Film Awards, creating one of the most globally respected industry events of the international Awards calendar.
In 2009, Amanda received an OBE for services to the Film Industry and in 2022 Amanda was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by University of the Arts London, in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the field of Digital and Entertainment Industries.